The toppling of Saddam’s statue turned out to be emblematic of primarily one thing: the fact that American troops had taken the center of Baghdad. That was significant, but everything else the toppling was said to represent during repeated replays on television—victory for America, the end of the war, joy throughout Iraq—was a disservice to the truth. Yet the skeptics were wrong in some ways, too, because the event was not planned in advance by the military. -Peter Maass, The Toppling: How the Media Inflated the Fall of Saddam’s Statue in Firdos Square

Just got a look at this great work by Platon for the New Yorker. The usual style, for the portraits, but I’d never really seen his documentary style beyond a few so-so examples on his website. These pictures, though, capture the malaise, exuberance, uncertainty, confidence, and all the other emotions wrapped up in America’s involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. The kid in the uniform struck me as overly cutesy and sentimental at first, but the accompanying text discovers the significance of the shot: Sergeant John McKay, a marine whose uncle and grandfather were marines, and whose three-year-old son posed in uniform at the wedding of a cousin, also a marine, said, “He’s just waiting till he’s eighteen.” He went on, “I’m scared for him, but if he wants to do it I’ll support him.” There’s some audio from Platon about the project, too. If you haven’t already, check out Platon talking about his shoot with Putin over at the World Press site. Click on 2008 and then the thumbnail of Putin.